The Perfect Society's Ignorance
Edward Sissorhands is a modern representation of the classic
fairytale. Tim Burton takes influence for this film from Frankenstein. The way
the film is set up is in the same way as a classic fairytale. A grandmother is
telling her grandchild a bedtime story about why it snows, which leads to
Edward’s story. It is interesting to see how the child reacts to this story at
the end of the film. It is to be expected that the child would be scared of a
man with scissors for hands, but the child seems desensitized to this idea.
This is a statement about how modern children are desensitized by technology
and media to images and ideas that would otherwise be terrifying to a child of
her age.
Although the film takes place in what seems to be the 50s, there are
still modern ideas and concepts throughout the film. The clean-cut look of the
town and veiled immorality within it is something I’ve experiences myself in my
own life. The townspeople act as if they have their lives together and that
everything is perfect, the way it should be. Their gossip, law breaking, and
promiscuousness are what show the viewers that not all is what it seems. Within
the first few minutes of Edward arriving in town, the townswomen were already
gossiping trying to find out who this mysterious man is. Also the teenagers in
the film are the typical law breaking, rebellious teens that can be seen in any
generation. There is also the stereotypical, sexually frustrated single woman
who attempts to seduce Edward.
The town may seem as if it were perfect but
there is a lot more going on beneath the surface. When Edward comes into town
all this immorality becomes more visible to the townspeople. In their ignorance
they blame Edward for this and eventually chase Edward out of town. They may
feel better with Edward gone but all they have done is mask their corruption
once again. Until they see the error of their ways, they will continue to live
their so-called “perfect lives,” ignorant of how things really are.
Your post is well written, i like how you reference frankenstein and make me realize that all the townspeople did was use edward as some type of scapegoat to cover up their lack of morality.In the beginning you were talking about how this story is somewhat following the storyline of a classic fairytale. You lost me there, i wish you would've continued that and told me some things that makes this a sort of dark twisted fairytale.
ReplyDeleteI like how you used Frankenstein as a fairytale rather than Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, or another commonly known and somewhat obvious fairytale that is told at bedtime. I never thought to do that. I also really enjoyed how you explained the town. It was very well written and clear. Although I liked most of your blog post, I feel as if you could've continued on or explained a bit more with some examples as to why this story is scary as you described in your first post. Basically I wish you would've written just a little more because I find your points to be very interesting.
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